Bush Baby
New member
I just picked up another rifle, a No.4Mk1 Enfield in .303 Epps that has been sporterised. It still has the original butt stock but the fore-end has been chopped and trimmed, the original iron sights have been removed and a set of Williams sights fitted to the barrel.
I must say it looks quite sexy – sleek looking, I’m always used to seeing rifles wearing scopes, kinda takes you back to the grand old days, before every rifle wore a scope.
Isn’t it amazing how steady you SEEM to be able to hold a rifle with iron sights, makes you feel you couldn’t possibly miss!!
I suppose what an iron sighted bolt rifle is to us here, is what a bare traditional (Winchester/Marlin) lever action is to you guys stateside?
Pity my eyes aren’t good enough anymore to make full use of them though. (Know the feeling?) Still I will keep them on even after I have fitted a scope, because I have found a new way of hunting bush pigs, and this gun is to be my up close and personal ‘bushy’ gun.
You look and listen for them in the very thick stuff before sunup (still almost dark) as they’re bedding down for the day – when you bump into them you really do BUMP into them – ultra short range (10-15 yards), 20 secs of squealing chaos, fast and furious!
And you don’t want to be ‘scratched’ by a 165lb bush pig going hell for leather – I’ve seen these cuties disembowel dogs in double quick time. A ‘bushy’ is much more aggressive than it’s tame cousin – the Warthog.
Although having said that, there was a news report last year of a person (turned out to be a poacher) in the Thabzimbi area who went missing, he and one of his dogs were found killed and partly eaten by Warthogs – so you never can tell………good riddance anyway.
Going to try 180grs at 2350-2400fps or 215grs at 2150fps – whichever works best. My brother in-law has a 20’’ barrelled Browning lever action in .308 Win (box mag – BLR?), a better gun for this work you won’t find – except maybe if it was chambered for the .358 Win.
Bush baby.
I must say it looks quite sexy – sleek looking, I’m always used to seeing rifles wearing scopes, kinda takes you back to the grand old days, before every rifle wore a scope.
Isn’t it amazing how steady you SEEM to be able to hold a rifle with iron sights, makes you feel you couldn’t possibly miss!!
I suppose what an iron sighted bolt rifle is to us here, is what a bare traditional (Winchester/Marlin) lever action is to you guys stateside?
Pity my eyes aren’t good enough anymore to make full use of them though. (Know the feeling?) Still I will keep them on even after I have fitted a scope, because I have found a new way of hunting bush pigs, and this gun is to be my up close and personal ‘bushy’ gun.
You look and listen for them in the very thick stuff before sunup (still almost dark) as they’re bedding down for the day – when you bump into them you really do BUMP into them – ultra short range (10-15 yards), 20 secs of squealing chaos, fast and furious!
And you don’t want to be ‘scratched’ by a 165lb bush pig going hell for leather – I’ve seen these cuties disembowel dogs in double quick time. A ‘bushy’ is much more aggressive than it’s tame cousin – the Warthog.
Although having said that, there was a news report last year of a person (turned out to be a poacher) in the Thabzimbi area who went missing, he and one of his dogs were found killed and partly eaten by Warthogs – so you never can tell………good riddance anyway.
Going to try 180grs at 2350-2400fps or 215grs at 2150fps – whichever works best. My brother in-law has a 20’’ barrelled Browning lever action in .308 Win (box mag – BLR?), a better gun for this work you won’t find – except maybe if it was chambered for the .358 Win.
Bush baby.
